Smart cities, AMRUT to be launched next month: Venkaiah Naidu

Union Urban Development Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu on Friday announced that the central government will launch three major schemes next month.

He told reporters that the Smart Cities Mission, the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) and housing for all will be launched in June.

He said Smart Cities and AMRUT will change the face of urban India while the third scheme will ensure housing for all by 2020.

Naidu said the Centre has already completed the consultation process with all stake holders including the states and municipal commissioners and finalised the modalities.

"Consultation has also been completed with foreign experts, partner countries, prominent companies, Indian and foreign investors," he said. The union cabinet and finance ministry have also approved the three key schemes.

Naidu said the government was working to make urban India pro-poor by providing them all amenities, employment and education.

Listing the achievements of the NDA government, he said it launched several programmes like the Jan Dhan Yojna and social security schemes for the poor and the unorganised sector.

He claimed that the major achievement of the Narendra Modi government is that it made India a destination for investment.

"A year ago there was despair, despondency and disappointment in the entire country. The entire world was also looking down on India. There was no leadership, no decision making. There was policy paralysis, fiscal deficit, revenue deficit, trade deficit, current account deficit and above all trust deficit. Prices were running high, inflation was high, GDP rate was coming down and various parameters of India were downgraded.

Within one year thanks to the leadership of Narendra Modi there is a change in perception internationally. Now India is being recognised and respected worldwide. India has become the destination for investment," he said

He claimed that agency after agency is upgrading India's rating. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank said if India goes on at the same speed, within two years it will surpass China's growth.

The minister said Indian investors were coming forward in a big way to invest. "There was 57 percent increase in investments in India in this short period," he said.

He said reviving the economy was the second biggest achievement of the government as the fiscal deficit was brought down to 4 percent and revenue deficit to 2.6 percent.

Naidu said the government provided good and clean governance and there was not a single instance of corruption during the last one year.

Terming the foreign policy as successful, Naidu said many countries had come forward to invest and also supply uranium to India. The government was also successful in ensuring the safe return of 4,000 Indians from Iraq and 2,000 from Yemen.